A protective guard for reducing injury to a shin of a person includes a conformable substrate and a plurality of core members disposed adjacent to a surface of the conformable substrate. The plurality of core members are arranged such that a first of the core members is rotationally movable about at least one axis relative to a second of the core members. A flexible fabric membrane comprised of natural or synthetic fibers is positioned adjacent to at least one of the conformable substrate and the plurality of core members.

An athletic garment generally includes a short member, a supporter, and a plurality of straps. The short member may include a front panel, rear panel, two side panels, and a waistband. The supporter is dimensioned to releasably receive an athletic protective cup. The straps are coupled to one end of the supporter and are attached to the opposing rear panel of the short member.

An athletic garment generally includes a short member, a supporter, and a plurality of straps. The short member may include a front panel, rear panel, two side panels, and a waistband. The supporter is dimensioned to releasably receive an athletic protective cup. The straps are coupled to one end of the supporter and are attached to the opposing rear panel of the short member.

A hip protector system includes an inflatable airbag, a proximity sensor to measure a distance to a point on the ground surface, a gyro to provide spatial orientation of the waist plane of the user, an accelerometer to determine the vertical acceleration of the waist plane of the user and a micro-controller unit. The micro-controller unit calculates a height based on proximity measurement and spatial orientation, computes values of downward velocity based on a change of the height in time and based on the vertical acceleration integrated over time and correlates the downward velocities to validate a true height in time to the ground surface. The airbag is inflated to protect the user responsive to the true height.

To provide an impact-absorbing pad fully satisfying impact absorbability for preventing femoral neck fractures, wearing comfort and breathability not to cause discomfort for all-day use, a small thickness not to impair external appearance, and flexibility in a surface direction not to cause uncomfortable feeling at the time of putting on and taking off, which are required for the impact-absorbing pad used in a hip protector, clothing furnished with the impact-absorbing pad, and a method for preventing femoral fractures. A pad main body having impact absorbability includes an impact-deflecting part having a through hole or concavity with a maximum length of 80 mm or less and an area of 600 mm.sup.2 or more and 5,000 mm.sup.2 or less, and the pad main body is disposed so as to apply the impact-deflecting part onto the greater trochanter of the femur, thereby preventing femoral fractures.

A protective sporting gear is described with a plurality of polygon-shaped protective components interposed between a first layer of material and a second layer of material. The plurality of polygon-shaped protective components are attached to a top surface of the first layer of material. Each of the plurality of protective components includes one or more polygon-shaped layers of rigid material situated on one or more polygon-shaped layers of non-rigid material. A bottom surface of a first polygon-shaped layer of non-rigid material of the one or more polygon-shaped layers of non-rigid material is attached to the top surface of the first layer of material.

An elastic support device configured to be disposed on a waist protector is provided, wherein the elastic support device includes: a main body defining a first direction and a second direction which are transverse to each other, the waist protector extending in the first direction, the main body including a plurality of V-shaped elastic members, each of the plurality of V-shaped elastic members including a connection portion and two ribs extending from the connection portion, in the first direction the ribs of neighboring two of the plurality of V-shaped elastic members being connected to each other, in the second direction the connection portions of neighboring two of the plurality of V-shaped elastic members being connected to each other, the main body being elastically restorable.

On the front side of the main part, the first start part separates the main part into a portion covering a knee joint of a wearer and a portion covering at least one of femoral and shin parts of the wearer. On the back side of the main part, the second start part separates the main part into a portion covering the knee joint of the wearer and a portion covering at least one of the femoral and shin parts of the wearer. On an outer side face side of the main part, the third start part at least partly extends under the portion covering the knee joint of the wearer. On an inner side face side of the main part, the fourth start part at least partly extends downward in a part lower than a crotch part of the wearer.

An athletic garment generally includes a short member, a cup receiving pocket, and a strap. The short member may include a front panel, rear panel, two side panels, and a waistband. The pocket is dimensioned to receive an athletic protective cup and has an open end, a closed end and two side portions. The open end of the pocket is attached to the waistband or to the front panel of the short member. The strap is coupled to the closed end of the pocket and is attached along an axis of the rear panel of the short member. Alternatively, a protective cup may be attached to the athletic garment without the use of a pocket. The garment is also useable with replaceable incontinent pads and/or where the cup is formed from liquid absorbent material.

An active hip protector system and method for hip fracture prevention are introduced in order to overcome the shortcomings of existing methods of preventing hip fractures; namely: to provide effective impact protection and eliminate false fall alarms. The hip protector system comprises a belt-like pouch, worn over the user's waist, containing airbags which are inflated to a large size ensuring that the user's thighs will not hit the ground upon impact, once the system detects a fall. The pouch contains all of the necessary elements for fall detection and activating inflation of the airbags. Incorporation of distance measurement sensors and cross reference with acceleration and spatial orientation sensors enable reliable detection of impending collision with the ground. The pneumatic system, including the airbags, is carried within the pouch or, alternatively, can be placed in a location that is prone to falling.